Tag: kindle light

Time for a product review. I already have a cover & light for my Kindle Keyboard, so when I was sent this one to review I thought I would go to town on a direct comparison. So here you are:

Tuff-Luv Case with light

This is a very well designed case/cover for the Amazon Kindle Keyboard in a lovely British Racing Green colour and with the gorgeous smell of real leather. The whole case has a soft padded feel to it which gives the impression that my Kindle will be well protected by this Kindle Cover.

There is a magnetic clip tab which fastens on the bag to keep the cover closed and another small tab which folds over the top Kindle once it is in place and fastens neatly with Velcro to stop it falling out at the top. This is not at all intrusive.

Looking from left to right at the open case, on the inside of the front (left) cover is a slip pocket which would be ideal for thin papers (not too much so as not to risk scratching the Kindle’s screen) and this incorporates a credit card size clear-fronted pocket which could hold your business card, perhaps to show who it belongs to.

Tuff-Luv Case back view

There’s an elastic loop flush with the spine which will hold a pen or the light if you want to keep the two together.

Having extricated the cardboard protection from the right hand side (no mean feat) it did take quite a bit of strength to slide my Kindle Keyboard right down to the bottom as it is a very tight fit. Once in place it all looks very neat and all the buttons and sockets are available to use. The stitching is very neat and there is only a very slight looseness with the top-most piece which may be seen as the beauty of having real leather. I’m not sure how well the little Velcro tab at the top will last if I keep taking my Kindle in and out. Altogether it adds136g (4.7 ounces) to the weight of the reader for a combined weight of 365g (12.8 ounces) – without the light.

Turning it over, there are two very neat cut-outs with silver coloured grills for the Kindle Keyboard’s rear speakers. The whole cover closes with a very succinct ‘click’ when fastened.

Now for the light. This is a Tuff-Luv Spark light and it comes in a clear plastic display case which easily comes apart without needing scissors. It includes three minute button cell batteries which it says will last up to 72 hours. The batteries are small and a bit fiddly and you need to be careful to open the packet over a tray or table so that they don’t fall out onto the floor.

Tuff-Luv Spark light

There are no instructions for installing the batteries, but it was easy enough to work out that they make a little stack inside the base of the light – once you’ve been able to open it! However, having installed the batteries with the plus side to the top, there is no way to keep it switched on – I assume mine was broken and I had to hold the strange switch at the bottom all the time.

Now, at first I supposed this light is designed to clip into the elastic loop on the inside spine of the cover, but it was really difficult to put it in place. There is also a leather loop on the outside right of the cover and it seems to fit nicely there – as per the photo. Unfortunately the clip has too thin a gap to clip over the sides of the cover itself and I wouldn’t want to risk tearing or scratching the leather by forcing it or using it in the same place every time, even if it were to work well.

Tuff-Luv case with light on right

When storing the light by wrapping it over the top and under the top tab from the spine loop, it doesn’t allow the cover to close properly; if mounted on the right side loop, it does look a lot neater and can be rolled over the top and can still be held in place by the top velcro tab, but then the magnetic cover clip doesn’t fit well. (Also more potential strain on the velcro tab.)

On to the light. The problem with lights for any Kindle is the spread and brightness of the light itself. A single bulb, LED or other, is not going to be able to span the width and length of the reader all at once, so you will need to adjust it as you read. Kindles not being the same size as books, this means that you will need to adjust it every few seconds if you are a fast reader.

With the Tuff-Luv Spark Light mounted either side, and even though it has a bendy stem which is not too stiff, there is no way it illuminates the ‘page’ adequately from either, or in fact any, position.

Located so that it does its best to illuminate the whole screen, there is an awful glare spot which is only out of site if the Kindle is held at the sort of angle which requires you to move your head up and down when reading – so not at all relaxing. Even mounted exactly as per the photo, it is so flimsy that it takes forever to set up, will move on you and still hurts the eyes.

I found the light coverage to be poor and the strength of light was not as good as I would like. Having used it for just a few seconds I still have spots in front of my eyes and I don’t think I could read for any length of time with this light. I much prefer the Kindle Kandle style light which fits so much better, has three LEDs and doesn’t give out any annoying glare.

My favourite Kindle light

I love this really excellent quality leather Tuff-Luv Kindle Cover but it is really let down by the addition of the dreadful light. For that reason I would recommend buying the cover separately. But I would like it even better if it had a back-stand so that I didn’t always have to hold it.